


Born To That

by Katherine



Category: The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Always a girl, Gen, Mornings, Simba is female, betrothal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 05:46:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine/pseuds/Katherine
Summary: It was still dark, but Simba was already excitedly jumping back and forth not only between but on her parents, tugging at them in turn.





	Born To That

It was still dark, but Simba was already excitedly jumping back and forth not only between but on her parents, tugging at them in turn. Sarabi winced in sympathy when Simba grabbed a mouthful of Mufasa's mane, then in direct discomfort when she pulled Sarabi's own ear.

"Mom, sunrise stalking lessons today!" If Sarabi had the foresight to not start that tradition with her daughter she might have had fewer early mornings.

"Today your father's going to teach you," Sarabi said. "But just as early," she added, with a touch of enjoyment at the prospect of Mufasa dragging himself up before sunrise for a change.

Simba drooped a little; at this stage, learning to "hunt" was her favourite, and she pestered all the lionesses for hunting stories.

Mufasa scooped their daughter close with one big forepaw, and whispered to her, coaxing. Sarabi caught only the word king.

Simba's answer was at a louder volume. "Mom's queen!" Sarabi could almost see her daughter's unfolding vision of mother-daughter time that was a story and a hunting lesson all rolled together.

Sarabi told her gently, "I wasn't born to that, and you are. This is something for your father to show you."

*

Sarabi tucked her head comfortably under the fall of Mufasa's mane. "How did your everything the light touches speech go?"

The start of Mufasa's reply was swallowed in his yawn. "...thinking about growing up to be queen."

"She'll be grown before we know it," Sarabi said. She shouldn't be wistful already, and yet... "And speaking of growing, she's old enough to be betrothed."

"There's no male in the pride for her," Mufasa said, sharp as he rarely was in the home cave. He was already shaking his head, mane billowing, when Sarabi said carefully, "There's Taka."

"Scar. His name is Scar. He's not how you want to remember him. I won't bond our daughter to my brother." He was speaking less quietly by the word, and sharp enough to cut. "Scar will not be king."

Sarabi saw so little of the dark lion since Simba was born. Long before that, if she let herself think of it. But she remembered how he had been, Taka who was a carefree young lion, unscarred then. She opened her mouth, but Mufasa's gaze was steady, heavy with royal determination. He was the king, born to it, a ruler in a different way from how Sarabi herself was queen.

Neither of them saw Scar moving silently away, deeper into shadow.


End file.
